The High's new photo exhibit 'A Long Arc' looks at the complex history of the American South

September 14th, 2023

Bob Adelman’s photograph of Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 is a part of “A Long Arc” exhibition at The High Museum. (Courtesy of Bob Adelman)

The history of photography in the South is a complicated one. Pictures have allowed us to see the injustices of generations before us, and it has also allowed us to see the beauty of places that no longer remain.

The High Museum’s new exhibition, “A Long Arc: Photography and the American South since 1845,” explores the documentation of Southern history and racial disparities.

In this interview, “City Lights” producer Summer Evans speaks with Greg Harris, the High’s Donald and Marilyn Keough Family curator of photography, about the exhibit.

“We’re really interested in how the myths of the South are simultaneously perpetuated and undercut by photography,” Harris said.

“A Long Arc: Photography and the American South since 1845” opens tomorrow at The High Museum of Art and runs through January 14. More information is available here.